1. Nanotechnology: Will technology create everything or dissolve the Universe in Grey goo.
2. Surveillance Nation: Will the improvement and declining cost of surveillance technology change the notions of privacy and our relationship with government?
3. My twin, myself: How will various types of cloning impact our sense of human nature and value.
4. Robots for All: Will robots and other mechanical devices take care of everything?
5. Drugs for the mind: Will we able to take drugs to make us smarter, more ethical, more fun?
6. Custom Kids: What will the impact of genetic testing and IVF have on the evolution of the human race?
7. Peak Oil: What do we do when we run out of oil?
8. Bioterrorism: As it becomes easier and easier to make viruses, how do we protect ourselves?
9. Vinge's School: What will school look like in the future?
10. Info War: Will cyberattacks be they next frontier of war?
11. Identity at Risk: How will they know you are you?
12. Downloading Personality: Could you store everything that is meaningfully you with 1s and 0s?
13. Artificial Intelligence: When will my computer be smarter than me? Has it already happened?
14. Replacement Parts: Can I get a better arm, leg, pituitary gland…
15. Global Warming: What happens when the greenhouse really kicks in?
16. No H2O: How do we make sure that the water will flow?
17. Overpopulation: Is there a such thing as too many people?
18. Extended life: What would happen if people live to be 200?
19. Where’s the Beef?: Could our food system collapse? How will we eat in 100 years?
20. Take Me to you Leader: Are we ever going to get out of this solar system?
21. Supervirus!: Killer Flu sweept through the world.
22. World of Superheroes: Nanotechnology and genetic advancs create a world of posthumans.
23. Handmaid's Tale: Reproduction becomes controlled by the State.
24. Beam Me Up, Scotty: Instantaneous transportation becomes feasible.
25. XX: Women take over; Men aren't needed.
26. Jurassic Park: We bring back Wooly Mammoths and Friends!
27. Hadron Collider: Black holes for everyone!
28. No more trees: What will we do for O and CO2?
29. Time Machine: Will we hurt our own grandmother's grandmother?
30. (insert your future here): Surprise us.
31. Children of Men: We can't reproduce. Havok ensues.
32. Zombies! They like brains, just like you!
Required Reading
Supplemental Reading:
Supplemental Viewing:
Movie Speeches Page <-------- This is a link
Block 3 Presentation Speeches
Pericles' Funeral Oration
Ronald Reagan: "Tear Down This Wall" (aka "The Brandenburg Gate Address")
Block 4 Presentation Speeches
Roosevelt Pearl Harbor Address
Bill Clinton "I Have Sinned"
George W. Bush September 11th Address to the Nation
Martin Luther King Jr. - Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence
We Shall Overcome Speech by Lyndon B. Johnson
We Shall Overcome (Lyndon B. Johnson) Audio
"Quit India" Resolution by Mohandas Gandhi
Defend/Challenge Prompts
1. Nanotechnology: Will technology create everything or dissolve the Universe in Grey goo.2. Surveillance Nation: Will the improvement and declining cost of surveillance technology change the notions of privacy and our relationship with government?
3. My twin, myself: How will various types of cloning impact our sense of human nature and value.
4. Robots for All: Will robots and other mechanical devices take care of everything?
5. Drugs for the mind: Will we able to take drugs to make us smarter, more ethical, more fun?
6. Custom Kids: What will the impact of genetic testing and IVF have on the evolution of the human race?
7. Peak Oil: What do we do when we run out of oil?
8. Bioterrorism: As it becomes easier and easier to make viruses, how do we protect ourselves?
9. Vinge's School: What will school look like in the future?
10. Info War: Will cyberattacks be they next frontier of war?
11. Identity at Risk: How will they know you are you?
12. Downloading Personality: Could you store everything that is meaningfully you with 1s and 0s?
13. Artificial Intelligence: When will my computer be smarter than me? Has it already happened?
14. Replacement Parts: Can I get a better arm, leg, pituitary gland…
15. Global Warming: What happens when the greenhouse really kicks in?
16. No H2O: How do we make sure that the water will flow?
17. Overpopulation: Is there a such thing as too many people?
18. Extended life: What would happen if people live to be 200?
19. Where’s the Beef?: Could our food system collapse? How will we eat in 100 years?
20. Take Me to you Leader: Are we ever going to get out of this solar system?
21. Supervirus!: Killer Flu sweept through the world.
22. World of Superheroes: Nanotechnology and genetic advancs create a world of posthumans.
23. Handmaid's Tale: Reproduction becomes controlled by the State.
24. Beam Me Up, Scotty: Instantaneous transportation becomes feasible.
25. XX: Women take over; Men aren't needed.
26. Jurassic Park: We bring back Wooly Mammoths and Friends!
27. Hadron Collider: Black holes for everyone!
28. No more trees: What will we do for O and CO2?
29. Time Machine: Will we hurt our own grandmother's grandmother?
30. (insert your future here): Surprise us.
31. Children of Men: We can't reproduce. Havok ensues.
32. Zombies! They like brains, just like you!
Resources: